At its annual meeting on Sept. 26, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Arts Council recognized Amanda Gordon, who teaches art at Diggs-Latham
Elementary Schools, with its second annual Arts Educator Excellence Award.

According to the arts council, "The Arts Educator Excellence
Award recognizes an educator or teaching artist who has enriched the education
of our community’s youth and inspired the next generation of artists, patrons
and creative individuals."

“I received a certificate and an original, hand-made glass ‘trophy’
created by a local artist,” Gordon said. “I was recognized for leadership
in my school and community and making the difference in the lives of my
students and colleagues.”

In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities at Diggs-Latham, Gordon
has taken on the leadership responsibilities for several school committees
and events and has written and received numerous grants. In nominating her,
the principal and assistant principal at Diggs-Latham noted that Gordon goes
above and beyond in all that she does.

In her acceptance speech, Gordon said:

“I was honored to be nominated and very humbled to receive the
award. So many teachers and art instructors work hard every day and also
deserve the award.

“I have a heart of service as I was influenced by many wonderful
mentors over the years and am now taking the opportunity to give back. I
grew up in a rural area but was fortunate enough to be valedictorian of my
graduating high school class and be the first generation of my immediate family
to go on to attend college.”

She thanked all of her many mentors, supporters, family and
friends for all their support and, most importantly, God “for faith that guides
all I do in my career and personal life.”

Gordon has have been teaching for 13 years in
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree
– with High Honors (Magna Cum Laude) – from the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro.

The award was announced in Reynolds Place of the Milton Rhodes
Center for the Arts in downtown Winston-Salem.

Hayden
Adams is a senior at Reagan High School and his sister, Finnlea Adams, is a
seventh-grader at Meadowlark Middle.

For
as long as they can remember, they have been saving the tabs from soda cans to
donate to the Ronald McDonald House, which uses the tabs to raise money to help
people stay in the house.

No
matter where Hayden and Finnlea were, they would collect tabs and tell people why
they were saving them, said their mother, Angela Adams, who teaches first grade
at Lewisville Elementary.

On
Sept. 20, they took containers filled with tabs to the Ronald McDonald House
and donated them.

“It
has taken them over 10 years (actually closer to 12) to save these containers
full,” Angela Adams said. “Although we didn't count, we can safely say they
donated thousands of tabs to the Ronald McDonald House!”

“It
was a small reminder of how lucky they are: health, safe home, good schools,
family.”

As
the Ronald McDonald House puts it on its website:

“Collecting pop tabs is a great way to teach kids about philanthropy and
the importance of recycling while raising funds to help children and their
families at the same time. Some of our Chapters raise thousands of dollars with
their pop tab collections – up to $30,000. Look for special RMHC pop tab
collection containers in the shape of a house at schools, community and civic
groups, and other local organizations in your area. You can also contact a
Ronald McDonald House near you to ask about getting your own house for
collection."

To find out more about the Ronald McDonald House in Winston-Salem, go to Ronald McDonald

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Over
230 Title I pre-k and kindergarten teachers and administrators from Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools descended on downtown Raleigh on Sept. 16-17 to attend the
N.C. Association for the Education of Young Children's 63rd Annual Conference.

Thanks
to a generous grant by the Kate B Reynolds Charitable Trust, these early
childhood educators spent two days attending sessions about effective and
appropriate practices for supporting young children's development and learning.
These educators also spent time networking and celebrating their efforts on
behalf of young children.

WS/FCS's
Power of K Teacher Leaders had a special display of their documentation
projects of their work to include more appropriate practices within their
kindergarten classrooms. In addition to funding for conference
registration, KBR funded each participant's hotel, travel, and meals,
along with a year's membership to the association and additional funds for
the purchase of developmentally appropriate materials for their classrooms.

The
Trust also sponsored a special reception for WS/FCS on Friday evening. Our
superintendent joined the reception and spoke to the group of educators
about the importance of the early years and our district's efforts toward
providing more pre-k classrooms and stronger kindergarten programs.

Dr.
Emory said that "the train is rolling [and] we can close
the gap right here in this room. We have the power in our district to
close the gap right on the front end."

These
educators left the conference feeling grateful and re-energized with lots
of new strategies for working with their students and families.

Wake Forest gave the teachers free tickets to
the game against Delaware. Superintendent was on hand to help Wake Forest present
a certificate to them.

The
recognitions were in connection with the second annual Extra Yard for Teachers
Week, which is sponsored by the College Football Playoff Foundation.

As the foundation
puts it on its website:

Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT)
Week is a week of recognizing teachers throughout the country for their hard
work and dedication in our schools. While anyone can participate in EYFT Week,
the primary goal is to lift teachers up through the powerful platform of
college football. The CFP Foundation asks that universities, bowls, and
conferences put the focus on teachers in the community during their weekend
football games as well as host special activations mid-week.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

The second
annual 9/11 Public Safety Challenge was held on Saturday, Sept. 10, in the
Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex.

The event,
which was first held last year, combines the City of Winston-Salem’s 9/11
commemoration with a competition for high school Junior ROTC units. The event
was open to the public and admission was free. The program
opened with the city’s annual 9/11 commemoration.

Next, JROTC
cadets from high schools in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County competed in
marksmanship, close-order drill and a “raider” (obstacle) course that combines
elements of the police physical abilities test and the fire agility test. The
winning unit took home the Public Safety Challenge Cup, a perpetual trophy that
is passed to the winner from one year to the next.

The Public
Safety Challenge is sponsored by the Winston-Salem Police and Fire departments,
the Forsyth County Sheriff’s and Fire departments, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Emergency Management. The event is designed to give JROTC cadets an
opportunity to learn more about careers in public safety.

In conjunction
with the Public Safety Challenge, the public safety agencies provided a $5,000
sponsorship to the Military Science program of the city-county schools, which
oversees the high school JROTC units.

Friday, September 16, 2016

On
Saturday, Sept. 24, the Junior League of Winston-Salem – in partnership with
the staff at Kimberley Park Elementary School – will hold a health fair at the
school.

Members
of the community are invited.

The
Strong Women, Strong Families Health Series event will offer a number of
activities. They include demonstrations on how to prepare produce in a healthy
manner. Produce and recipes with given out during the cooking demonstrations.

The
Winston-Salem State Mobile health lab is scheduled to administer health
screenings. The fair will also include activities for children and information about
local health clinics.

Other
health events are planned for November, February and the spring.

The
fair is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The telephone number at Kimberley Park
is (336) 703-6731.

If so, the students in the carpentry program at the
Career Center have just the thing for you.

During the 2015-16 school year, seniors under the
leadership of carpentry instructor John Christian built an 8-foot-by-8-foot storage
unit. It has a 10-foot ceiling and a 4-foot-by-8-foot loft. The double doors
are 6 feet wide and 8 feet tall.

The storage unit is for sale for $1,500, which includes
delivery and set up within a 35-mile radius of the Career Center. Money from
the sale will go back into the carpentry program at the Career Center.

During the course of the coming school year, students will
also build such items as benches, picnic tables, wine racks and bookshelves. Money
from the sale of those projects will be used to reduce the amount that students
have to pay to participate in the annual SkillsUSA conference.

To find out more about the storage unit or smaller
projects to come, please send an email to John Christian at
jwchrisitan@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

Friday, September 9, 2016

Author Megan Miranda paid a visit to East Forsyth
High School today as part of the Authors in the Schools program sponsored by
Bookmarks.

Ms. Miranda is one of the featured authors
participating in the Bookmarks Festival held in Winston Salem this weekend,
September 8 through September 11. Media Coordinator Mary Naber arranged
the visit with Bookmarks affiliate Jamie Southern.

Megan Miranda spoke to two classes in the media
center. Farrah Hilton and Tiffany Burgess were the two teachers whose
classes enjoyed the talk. Megan Miranda, a former high-school science
teacher, talked about her books, how her background in science inspired some of
the topics for her books, and her life as a full-time writer.

East Forsyth High School students are excited about
reading her new book The Safest Lies, and Mrs. Naber
has copies of her young adult titles available in the library for students
to check out!

About Me

We're here to share good news about people associated with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, to answer questions and to let you share your thoughts about how to make the schools better. If you have something that you would like for others to know about or want to ask a question, please send an email to Kim Underwood